Provincial Treasury sets higher revenue target for 2018
Thursday, 31 May 2018
The MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Sikhumbuzo Kholwane announced what is arguably the highest collections targets for the province in as many years.
Tabling the Policy and Budget Vote of the Provincial Treasury at the Mpumalanga Legislature on Tuesday [25 May 2018], MEC Kholwane said the province is targeting a revenue collection of almost R2 billion in 2018/19 financial year.
“To give ourselves a better chance of impacting significantly on service delivery, we will adjust the revenue projections for 2018/19 from R1.3 billion [announced in March 2018] to R1.9 billion in November 2018, said MEC Kholwane.
When MEC Kholwane took over the portfolio of finance in 2014, the province collected on average R800 million on an annual basis, until he made a bold announcement of a multi-year target of R4.2 billion in provincial own revenue two years later (March 2016).
According to MEC Kholwane, the Province collected R1.1 billion in 2016/17 and a further R1.3 billion in 2017/18 financial year thus signifying the strongest possibility that the revenue target is within reach.
MEC Kholwane acknowledged that the revenue collection is depended on effectiveness of the instruments used and the economic performance.
“The Provincial Treasury is working closely with Departments of Health and Community Safety, Security and Liaison to improve the revenue collection process for the Province.
“I have also instructed the Provincial Treasury to review patient documentation in our health facilities to reduce the number of rejected claims thereby boost revenue collection rates”, he said.
The breakdown of the actual collection over the first two rear of the 2017 MTEF period is as follows: